Oil-by-rail traffic hurts farmers, travelers, U.S. officials told

WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - Midwestern farmers and
Amtrak passengers are among those being hurt by rail congestion
caused in part by an energy boom that has spurred the massive
movement of oil by rail, U.S. officials were told on Thursday.

Rail shipments of oil have been on the rise in regions that
lack sufficient pipelines as alternatives, such as North
Dakota's Bakken energy patch, where production is nearing 1
million barrels per day and roughly 72 percent of that fuel
moves on the tracks.

Rail lines clogged with 100-car trains carrying oil heading
to refineries, as well as coal hoppers bound for export
terminals, help explain why passengers are often delayed and
farm commodities are late to market, witnesses told the Surface
Transportation Board, a regulatory agency that arbitrates rail
disputes.

"Increased volumes of oil and coal shipments have displaced
grain shippers leading to long, expensive delays," said Roger
Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union.

Weeks can pass before trains reach grain farmers in Montana
and the Dakotas, Johnson said, easily leading to thousands of
dollars of losses per farm family.

BNSF Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway
Company came in for particular criticism and the
carriers acknowledged that they have sometimes failed to provide
a reliable link between farmers and markets.

"Let me say we know we have created supply-chain risk for
you and fell short of providing the level of service that you
expect from BNSF," Steve Bobb, the train operator's marketing
chief, told regulators.

An uncommonly severe winter slowed service across much of
the Midwest, rail executives said, and some of those problems
will be alleviated with the change of seasons.

But Bobb said BNSF must lay more track to serve existing
agricultural customers and answer rising demands from the energy
sector.
Continued...